


Fall Away

by icey_pilots



Series: Fall away [1]
Category: Twenty One Pilots
Genre: Abuse, Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Anxiety, Depressed Tyler Joseph, Depression, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, I swear theres a happy ending, M/M, Past Child Abuse, ashley is gayyyy, brendon is a hyper boy, but id say its good for a 13 year old, dallon is a gentle giant, fluff?, i wrote this when i was 13 dont @ me, josh is really supportive, they all have fucked up pasts, tylers mom is really abusive
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-17
Updated: 2018-09-16
Packaged: 2019-07-13 08:46:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 17,654
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16014419
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/icey_pilots/pseuds/icey_pilots
Summary: I don't want to fall away.Please don't let me fall away.=========Tyler moved from Washington state to Ohio right before school started and he thought it was going to be exactly like his previous school, then he meets four incredibly nice, caring, and protective people that he would die for. Hell, he'd live for them. Sooner or later, Tyler broke, but one person stops him, and the small brunet falls in a good way.





	1. Just a tad bit sad

"Tyler! Come to the kitchen right now!" My mothers' shrill voice echoed through the hallways, making me groan and shove my face into the black pillow I call mine.

The aroma of cookies float through the air, making me realize either guests are coming over or she has done something indisputably stupid. I sigh softly, slowly stumbling out of bed and into our kitchen. My eyes squint at the sudden light of the hallway, only making me want to crawl back into the darkness of my room even more. The kitchen was no better, the warmth of the oven made me flustered a but, but not to the point where I couldn't handle it or I would break a sweat. The fresh, hot cookies sat on the table in a tempting way, as if asking me to eat them.

"Tyler, we're moving. Like, tomorrow. So go get your shit packed."

I stood still in shock, not necessarily wanting to ask where to in fear of it being some place familiar.

"Where are we going?" I asked, head cocked to the side.

"We are moving to Columbus, Ohio." She spoke, suddenly motioning to the cookies for me to take one.

I shook my head and turned away from her, making my way back to my room. Once I was swallowed by darkness again, I let out a long, drawn out sigh before reaching for my phone blindly. The screen made me squint as the brightness lowered automatically, which I was grateful for. I tapped onto Twitter to check my timeline, it was sadly very empty.

"Tyler! I'm giving you boxes to pack your room with, we have to be ready by six p.m. tomorrow." Her voice was demanding and borderline annoyed.

She was known to be short tempered and loud. She would hit me if things didn't go her way, ignore me, basically neglect me. Because of this, I learned to deal with difficult people at a very young age, so bullying was never a problem. It was still annoying, though, when people think that they can 'hurt' me by saying certain things.

Gosh diddly doo, I do love the excitement of meeting new assholes who pick on other people to cover their own insecurities. This outta be glorious.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Oh, look at the house! Its not a fuckin' shit hole!" My mother stated, scoffing.

"On the outside, have you even had the chance to look on the inside? Besides pictures? For all we know it could be an absolute dump." A spew of bad scenarios ran through my head, as always, once we finally reached our new house.

"Stop being such a dumbass, it's fine." She responded, pointing to the boxes in the moving truck and signaling for the movers to grab them.

"I am deeply sorry I cannot control all of the anxiety that comes with moving, mother, if you would please accept my apology? Or, must I be required to do a deed so extravagant just to gain your trust back?" I snapped, snatching the keys from her hold and unlocking the door.

I heard my mom mutter profanities at me before sighing and following me inside. The house was fully furnished, much to my relief, with a white and brown color scheme.

"See, not a dump." My mother said blatantly before instructing the movers where to put everything.

I sighed, out of relief and stress, before searching the house for 'my' room. I found a room that was simple enough to be mine and stepped inside. There was a TV and couch, half-bunk with a nightstand and desktop, wardrobe the size of my old room, and a balcony. This whole room is making me question where my mother got all of that money. Probably from gambling, wouldn't be surprised if that was it.

I decided that I'd go for a walk before asking her, for my legs were screaming for me to stretch them. I quietly walked downstairs and past my mom, grabbing a sticky note and the first pen I could find to write a note.

I'm going out for a walk, I have my phone so call me if you need me.

Tyler.

Sticking it on the refrigerator, I grabbed my wallet from my room before. Slipping out of the front door, I successfully avoided my mother and movers.

"I'm a spy." I whispered with a smirk, walking away from the house and looking around for any nearby store.

"How the hell..." My mumble was barely there, the wind carried it away with the other sounds around me.

"You lost?" Another voice made me jump, so I slowly turned and met a pair of chocolate brown eyes.

"I-uh, I guess." My habit of mumbling at least eighty-seven percent of the time was bad, yet the boy in front of me some how heard me.

"Watcha looking for? I know this place like the back of my hand, I can get you anywhere anytime you want." His arm found it's way around my shoulder as he did that one thing most con-artists do, I'm not sure what to call it.

"Taco Bell?" I suggested, smiling softly as his eyes lit up.

"Yes! I know where every Taco Bell is! By the way, my name is Urie, Brendon Urie." Brendon retracted his arm grabbed my wrist softly before pulling me god knows where.

"Well, hi Brendon, I'm Joseph, Tyler Joseph." I responded.

"Breadbin Urine! Where are ya' going?" Brendon stopped in his tracks and turned around with a huge smile.

"Giraffe! I'm just taking my new friend to Taco Bell." The boy that stopped us fit his nickname, he was tall.

I ran a hand through my hair nervously before sighing.

"Yeah? And what's your new friends name?" The boy smirked, laughing as Brendon scoffed and flicked him off.

"His name is Tyler, thank you very much. Tyler, that is Dallon, also known as giraffe." Brendon chirped, turning back around before pulling me along once again. "Now we gotta go, bye Dal-pal!"

With that, he intertwined our fingers and started talking, a lot. I listened, though, responding to him when he asked me questions. We were walking for about twenty minutes, all the while making mental notes on what street to turn so I could come back to Taco Bell again.

"And here we are! We have arrived at the sacred Taco Bell." Brendon laughed, pulling me inside the building, the aroma of cheap Mexican food filling my nose.

"Thank you, I-I guess we can get something to eat here and then I can go stock up on food so I can leave my room only to go to school and the bathroom." I informed, walking up to the cashier with Brendon close behind.

After ordering and eating, we--I silently left the vicinity, dragged by a blabbering Brendon.

"Do you know what school you're going to?" He questioned, looking at the ground.

"No, but I think it will be the closest one to my neighborhood." I replied softly.

"What neighborhood do you live in?"

"Timberland."

"I live there as well! So does my friend Joshua, maybe we can hang out sometime?" Brendon suggested with a wide smile on his face.

"Yeah, sure." I smiled back, it wasn't everyday that someone actually wanted to hang out with me.

This could go two ways.


	2. Honey, I have more baggage than a damn airport

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> honestly this shit is so bad but whatever

"Okay, so this is the Crimson Cup! It has a freaking fireplace in there, so I'll take you sometime with my friends." Brendon explained, dragging me to the next place.

"Okay, I think that's all. I gotta bring you home." He sighed dramatically, smiling afterwards.

Trigger warning???? Also this is like the next day.

Today is the kind of day where I just don't want to exist anymore, not where I want to commit suicide, I just want to become non-existent. Nobody will miss me, nobody will know I'm gone, I will just not exist. Only for a day.

Today is my bad day, very bad day. Each week I have one day where everything goes to shit. My self-confidence drains, my anxiety and depression join together to form a huge storm that attacks my mind with all of the self-degrading thoughts I thought I had successfully built a wall in front of, my insomnia keeps me up and forces me to deal with this, my fear stops me from telling anybody so I deal with this all alone. Long story short, I'm tortured by my own mind for a full twenty-four hours.

It's Sunday.

For most people, Sunday is a day of God and happiness. For me, it's the day I'm stuck in my own mind and forced to deal with these thoughts that have brought me to the brink of death multiple times. It's the day where I have migraines, suicidal thoughts, all hope is lost, and I can barely take it anymore.

"Tyler! Come here!" Her voice echos through the halls and bounces into my room reluctantly.

I try to get up but whimper from the sudden, sharp pain in my head and collapse back down onto the sheets of my bed. I hear a sigh before the thumping of shoes on the stairs.

"Tyler-" I whimper once more as my mother's voice cuts through the lovely silence in my room.

"Oh," Her voice lowers to a quiet whisper instantly, "seriously? You have got to fuckin' stop with this shit." She sighs, walking inside my bedroom.

"Please let me be alone for the day." I let fear stop me from telling my mother what I'm dealing with, once again, mainly because I know she'll tell me I'm lying.

My mother sighs for the tenth time today before setting the water and pill bottle on my nightstand, closing the door as she leaves.

It's not like I'll be able to escape anyways, this is my own mind, you can't escape your own mind. Numbing is the only break I have from this. Numbing is what I do every other day of the week, building a wall to keep out my enemies. An unstable wall since my resources are limited, limited to fake smiles and artificial light bulbs that go out quickly. I feel like a ticking time bomb that has smaller explosions once a week leading to the huge bomb that destroys everything. My eyes are the peep holes in the door that holds my battle.

I am very confusing sometimes, I jump from one thing to another, sounding like a herd of fifty different animals calling out all at once. But this is all normal.

Trigger warning over and its the next day....again.

Monday. The first day of my new hellhole. I get to ignore new assholes and earn the title of the school nerd.

"Tyler! Time to get up, you have school." My mother called, opening the door and letting light spill into the darkness of my room.

I hum in response, turning on my side to meet her chocolate brown eyes.

"You can use the car today, I'm calling an Uber to pick me up. You already know where the school is, hopefully." She informed, flicking the light switch on before exiting.

Sighing, I force myself up and to the closet that contains my clothes. I choose a simple black shirt and black skinny jeans, grabbing a navy blue hoodie to cover my exposed arms. I grab my phone and bookbag, sliding my phone in my back pocket. The sound of a door slamming shut caused me to jump before huffing out of frustration.

She forgot to say goodbye, how surprising.

"Sometimes, I wonder if you even love me." I mumbled, leaving my room and heading downstairs.

Skipping breakfast as usual, I grab the car keys off of the kitchen counter and exit the house after slipping my black high top converse on. I lock the door and walk to the car, hopping in before backing out of the driveway. For once I was glad I wore my hoodie, for the snow fell furiously around the car. Right as I was about to exit the neighborhood, I caught Brendon walking on the sidewalk, shivering. I stopped the car next to him and honked, motioning for him to get in after rolling the window down. Brendon looked left and right before rushing to my car, dusting himself off before opening the door and sitting in the warm seat. I close the window and lock the doors, continuing the journey to school.

"You are a lifesaver, Tyler Joseph." He sighed, resting his head back against the seat after buckling up.

"Just helping a friend out." I reply.

"I'm your friend?" Brendon gasped dramatically before breaking out into giggles.

I smile softly, keeping my eyes on the road as we leave the neighborhood.

"You are hard to crack, my friend." He shakes his head with fake disappointment painted on his features.

"I don't laugh much, I'll smile though. You just have to figure out of it's real or forced." I reply.

Brendon hummed in response, staring out of the window thoughtfully. I mentally thank him for being quiet the rest of the way to school. Once we pull up and park, Brendon thanks me again before hopping out of the car and waiting for me to exit. I slowly get out and lock the door, a neutral expression on as I walk to Brendon. He grabs my hand and intertwines our fingers, guiding me into the building.

"Okay, so I'll bring you to the main office to get your schedule and see what classes you have then I'll introduce you to some of my friends." He explains.

I nod, walking with him while keeping my eyes glued to the ground.


	3. If you're sad and you know it clap your hands! *furiously claps*

I was practically attached to Brendon while we walked down the halls to meet his friends. Once we reached them, my grip on the boy in front of me loosened but tightened on the strap of my bookbag.

"Hello friends," the gaze of three people drifted towards me and Brendon, making me shift uncomfortably, "I found another friend!" He chirped, motioning to me.

My eyes nervously glided across each of the people in front of us. I recognize one as Dallon from the other day while the other two were complete strangers.

"Hey, Ty-guy! You were with Brendon on Saturday." Dallon spoke, smiling nicely.

I nod, switching my gaze to the interesting floor beneath us.

"Ty, fire-head over there is Joshua Dun and Hades is Ashley Frangipane." Brendon informed with a laugh.

Looking up, I raised an eyebrow at him and smiled before examining Joshua and Ashey.

"Still no laugh? Come on, I can make anyone laugh." He pouted, sighing dramatically as I nodded.

"You're pretty quiet, how did you get stuck with Breadbin?" Ashley questioned with a giggle.

I shrugged, snapping my head to the boy next to me as he reached in my back pocket to grab my phone.

"I'm giving you my number, as well as Josh's, Ashley's and Dallon's." Brendon informed, furrowing his eyebrows when he realized I had a password.

Sighing, I typed my password in and clicked the phone app for him. The brunette smiled, adding all four contacts into my phone.

"There, done. Now you can text us anytime you want." I replied with a nod, taking my phone back and slipping it into my pocket once again.

The four began talking about random things while I just stayed in the background. I didn't want to intrude in their friendship and possibly cause a lot of drama to pop up that ruins their friendship.

"Tyler, you can't just act like you don't exist. Join us!" Brendon whined.

"Come to the dark side, we have pizza and Redbull." Joshua added in a Darth Vader voice, making grabby hands towards me.

I smiled in amusement, letting out a huff of air. It's like when you see something funny on Instagram that makes you think 'lmao' but really you just breath out.

"Sounds like a good deal, I'm in." I replied, stepping closer to them.

"He speaks!" Ashley shouts, raising her hands and bowing to me as if she was praising a god.

"Not much, though." I shrug, keeping the smile on my face.

"It's a real smile, we did it!" Brendon laughs loudly while pumping his fist in the air.

The bell rang loudly, causing me to jump slightly and drop my smile.

"Yes it's real, now shouldn't we be going to class or something?" I whispered.

"Goodie-two-shoes alert, but yeah." Dallon sighed.

"Josh, you have Tyler first hour, so go take him." Brendon stated, ruffling my hair before pushing me to Joshua softly.

The red haired boy nods with a smile and motions for me to follow him. While walking, I decide to go over all of the things that happened today.

My mom forgot I existed, I picked Brendon up on the side of the street, he got me my schedule and introduced me to some of his friends, I now have people that I may or may not be able to trust, and now Joshua is leading me to class.

"You always look so thoughtful, what's going on in that mind of yours?" Joshua snapped me out of my thoughts, warmth spilling onto my cheeks and to the tip of my ears.

"Nothing important." I mumbled, averting my gaze to the floor once again.

"That's the thing, Tyler, there is a difference between unimportant and nothing important. Unimportant is what we use when we really mean something is not important, nothing important is what we use when something is really important but we try to hide it's importance. So tell me, what are you thinking?" My eyes shot up to meet the redhead's, widening at his choice of words.

I stayed quiet for a few moments before speaking up.

"I am thinking how well and thought out your choice of words were, certainly you must've practiced that for a while." My reply was sharp and meaningful, for he really surprised me.

"Oh yes, I practice that every night whilst staring in the mirror located in my room. Now, stop avoiding my question and answer me after class or during lunch, I could not care less." Joshua smirked softly, motioning to the classroom door.

I sighed, nodding reluctantly. The boy stepped in the class with me trailing behind like a lost puppy.

"Ah, Joshua, glad you could join us, on time as well." The teacher stated, pointing to the seats in the back.

"Wait," He butted in, stopping us from moving anymore, "new kid, what's your name?"

"Tyler Joseph, sir." Joshua replied for me, earning a grateful smile from me.

The teacher sighed, motioning for us to sit down once more.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The rest of the school day went fine, I managed to dodge Joshua's question until now, though.

"Tyler, you can't avoid me now, it's lunch." The redhead smirked, lacing his fingers together before setting his chin on them.

"Actually, I technically can. You see, I can just choose to not answer you, but I'm not that much of a jerk so I shall answer you. Maybe." I copied his actions, smirking back as well.

"I see what you're doing. You sneaky little thing, you are trying to distract me. Unfortunately for you, I don't forget that easily, so answer my question. What are you thinking now and beforehand?" Joshua sent a playful glare to me, smiling as he did so.

"Sigh, I guess I have no choice now." I yawned dramatically, stretching my limbs before settling down.

"Woah, chill out, what the hell is going on?" Brendon questioned, eyeing Joshua and I.

"He has been avoiding my question all day, and since I am very determined to get my answer, I shall not stop bugging him until he gives me what I want." The boy next to me replied.

"Okay? What was the question?" Dallon raised an eyebrow, suddenly very interested in our conversation.

"He already said it dumbass." Brendon elbowed the taller boy.

I rolled my eyes, looking at Joshua with a bored expression.

"Fine, if you'd really like to know what I was thinking, I'll tell you. When you first asked the question, I was thinking about how I went from being insanely lonely and sad to less lonely and sad in less than an hour. When I woke up, my mom forgot I existed and left without a goodbye, I picked Brendon up on the side of the street after seeing him shiver from the frostbite temperatures, then he introduced me to you guys. At my old school in Washington state, I was the nerdy loner nobody liked, but here, I made friends with four amazing people in less than an hour. Crazy if you ask me." I informed in a small, but somewhat confident, voice.

The four stared at me with unreadable expressions, staying silent for what seemed like hours. Suddenly, Joshua smiled, fond and sweet.

"Well, Tyler, I'm glad that we were able to make your life so much better." He stated, hugging me tightly afterwards.

As much as I hate physical contact, this hug was amazing. I felt safe and loved for the first time in so long. I could not even describe how breathtaking this felt, so I hugged back.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


	4. Boom clap, you boutta get that ass tapped

"Tyler!" A voice caused me to halt out of confusion.

Turning around, I see Brendon, Joshua, Dallon and Ashley behind me.

"Ty," Brendon stops in front of me while dramatically gasping for air, "we wanted to know if you'd like to hang out with us later."

I shrug, nodding before continuing my journey back to my car.

"Also, can you give me a ride? I'd walk, but it's below freezing out there." He asks, scratching the back of his neck.

I nod once more, letting him intertwine our fingers.

"See you later, Tyler." Joshua calls after us.

I turn my head and smile at the three, truly grateful that I have a chance to be their friend.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A knock on the door resulted in me groaning before reluctantly getting off of the couch, my blanket sliding off of my bare torso. My eyes glance to the clock and widen at what time it is.

"Tyler Joseph! Your best friends in the whole wide world are here!" Brendon calls from the other side of the door.

Sighing, I decide to wait to put my shirt on and head to the entrance of my house. Opening it, Brendon squeals and covers Ashley's eyes.

"Small lesbian alert! No naked bodies!" He huffs, fake disappointment.

"Then she shouldn't be bothered." I reply, motioning for my friends to come in.

"Oh! Pretty color scheme, Ty-guy." Ashley compliments after swatting Brendon's hands away from her eyes.

I nod before heading back to the living room and collapsing on my couch with a sigh and covering myself back up with my blanket.

"Sleepyhead." The small girl mumbles playfully before laying down on me.

"You weigh nothing, do you even eat?" I joke.

"Nope, I gave up eating three years ago, yet I am still forced to live on this dreadful planet." She sighs.

"I have a question!" Dallon raises his hand and smiles.

"Uh, Joshua, answer the question." I reply, pointing to the redhead on the sofa next to me.

"Shoot."

"This was meant for Tyler, but whatever. Is he gay?" The tall teenager asks, cocking his head to the side.

I cough a bit at the question, making Ashley giggle.

"The fact that he does not seem bothered at all by Ashley lying on his back and that he coughed a bit at the question without denying it, I'd say yes." Joshua answers, shrugging his shoulders.

"You are correct my friend, for I am too gay for this world." I add, smiling a bit.

"Called it! Dallon, you owe me twenty bucks!" Brendon shouted.

"You were betting if I was gay or not." I ducked my head slightly as Ashley rested her chin upon the top of my head.

"Actually, I said you were completely gay and he said you had to be bisexual." The smaller brunette replied, smiling widely as Dallon placed a twenty dollar bill in his hand.

"Well, I'm definitely not into boobs, so I'd say I'm gay."

"Same fren." Joshua added.

"Fren?" I raise my eyebrow questioningly.

"Yeah, fren."

I smile a softly before averting my eyes back to the couch and sighing.

"Boobs are awesome yet annoying. When you have boobs, you have to get bras and make sure they don't hurt you, but if you see boobs, mmm." Ashley butted in, pulling a laugh from everyone but me, of course.

"You never laugh, child." She pouts, kicking her feet.

"I don't laugh, I smile. You just have to tell if it's real or fake." I shrug, closing my eyes and resting my chin on my arms.

"You guys are best friend goals, stay still so I can take a picture." Brendon awed, crouching in front of us.

"We're goals, Ty." Ashley giggles.

I nod, keeping my eyes closed. Suddenly the front door opens and closes, the sharp sound of heels hitting the floor making me groan out of frustration.

"Tyler? I didn't think you would've made friends." My mother states.

"Fuck. Off." I growl, lightly nudging Ashley to signal for her to get off, which she did.

"You have no right to curse at me."

"You have no right to assume I'd be a loner this year." I snap back, standing up and crossing my arms at her.

"What? You never make friends, most people think you're a loser or something."

I've had enough. I sent her daggers before flashing her my most prized finger and rushing out of the house with a 'fuck you'. The first person to walk up to me was Joshua. I had tucked myself into a ball and rested my head upon my knees at the front of the house. Joshua softly rubbed my knee after sitting next to me.

"She's never like that." I whisper, holding back a smile as my other friends sat next to me.

"To be completely honest, I was the lonely giraffe of the school until Brendon found me." Dallon spoke up.

"Same, we were all alone 'till we found each other." Ashley added, resting her chin on my shoulder before looking up at me.

"Once upon a time, in an alternate universe, Brendon was lonely and sad." Brendon stated dramatically, pointing to the sky.

I smiled, for real.

"I was the scary looking punk kid people didn't dare mess with, which is till true, to a degree." Joshua smiled back.

"You just have to find the right people." The tall brunet spoke.

"If you want, you can stay at my house tonight. We can sneak through your window to get clothes if you don't want to see your mom." The redhead suggested.

I nodded, shivering a bit from the cold.

"I think we should do that now, since it's minus one thousand degrees out here and Tyler doesn't have a shirt." Ashley laughed, standing up.

Everyone followed, Joshua helping me a bit.

"I'll get the clothes, be right back." I stated before rushing to where my balcony was.

The other four followed and watched in awe as I climbed back into the house with ease.

"What? I got skills dude." I looked at Joshua and motioned for him to follow me up, he obviously could with that body build.

Once we were both in the room, I sighed from the warmth and rushed to my closet before grabbing a grey shirt and my yellow hoodie.

"Oh my lord, I feel amazing." I moan from the warmth both clothing items provided.

"Well, you were just outside in ten degree weather, of course you feel amazing." Joshua rolled his eyes playfully, grabbing a bag that was thrown on the floor and tossing it to me.

I caught it, smiling gratefully before grabbing more clothes and placing them in the bag.

"Don't forget your book bag or your phone charger."

"Yeah, thanks."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Boy oh boy oh boy  
> Look at that  
> Jish and ty gonna have a sleepover
> 
> It would be a shame if
> 
> Someone were to
> 
> RUIN IT


	5. Honey, you've got quite the storm coming

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> all of you that deal/dealt with depression know that one event and one person is going to magically destroy it all and make you happy again. I hate it when people write stories like that.

"Thank you, Joshua." I mumble, tightening my grip on the strap of the bag I was holding that contained my clothes as we walked to the front of his house.

"Don't worry about it, I'm happy to help." He reassured, opening the door and leading me in.

"Mom! I'm back! Also, my friend's here." Joshua smiled at me before motioning to the kitchen where his mother was.

"Hey, Joshua! Is it Brendon-oh no, it's someone new! Who might you be?" She smiled widely at me, wiping her hands off with a towel.

"I-I'm Tyler, nice to meet you ma'am." I reply, holding my hand out to shake.

Mrs. Dun shook her head and pulled me in for a hug, kissing my cheek lightly before letting me go.

"I'm Laura, nice to meet you. What happened dear? You look a little shaken up."

"Unlike you, his mother is a total-." His mother scowls, crossing her arms.

"Joshua! Don't be disrespectful."

"It's actually very true, ma'am." I add quietly.

"I'm so sorry, dear, is there anything I can do to help?" Laura asked, taking my hands in hers.

"No ma'am, not really. But it's alright, I tend to ignore it. I don't like to let people's words get the best of me." I responded, smiling sweetly at her.

"Well, I think that is rather mature of you. Now, go run along and do whatever teenagers do nowadays." Laura shooed us playfully, chuckling.

Before Joshua had the chance to run upstairs, his mom grabbed his bicep and whispered something in his ear, laughing when he flushed a bright red color. I look at Joshua and followed him as he motioned for us to go upstairs.

"What was that?" I question.

"Nothing, just my mom being weird."

"Okay, so I have a king bed which means we could be like that married couple and get mad at each other but still sleep apart because the bed is so big." He states, leading me into a room that looks like a typical teenage boy room, even though I've never been in one before.

Lots of games were on the TV stand, the room was surprisingly not messy, a PS4 and Xbox one and 360 were on the stand as well, a drawer with a mirror attached, a closet, and the King sized bed.

"Here, you can put your things in the extra drawer." Joshua points to the extra space and motions to my bag, making me raise an eyebrow.

"You have an extra space for clothes, are you rich or something?" I question, walking over to where he showed me nonetheless.

"Nope, people get paid more and the houses cost less."

"Ah, makes since. You know, I went to West Palm Beach, Florida for a while and it was havoc. A crappy apartment costs $1100 a month." I scoff, placing my clothes in the space provided.

"Blasphemous." Joshua replied with slight sarcasm.

I was shocked at how well we got along, it's as if our words were carefully picked out and put into order. I was shocked at how quickly I have come to befriend him, I felt as if we have been friends for years.

"Big words for such a small person." I smirked softly.

"I'm taller than you, in fact, I'm taller than most people."

"How tall are you?" I questioned, placing the last item of clothing in the drawer before closing it and siting at the foot of his bed.

"I, young one, am five foot and eleven inches short."

"By one inch." I groan, letting my head hit the metal of the bed.

Joshua sat on the bed above me and laughed as I pouted, bopping my nose and causing me to crinkle it.

"It's cute, you're taller than some people but you can still be shorter than others so it's not weird, stop getting yourself worked up." He spoke, giggling slightly as I stood up and sat next to him.

I sighed, letting myself fall back onto his fluffy sheets. I don't have words as to how comfortable Joshua's' sheets are.

"These are so pretty and fluffy."

"Just like you then. You're pretty and your hair is so fluffy."

I sat up and looked at him, smiling softly, my cheeks dusted with blush.

"Is Joshua Dun flirting with me? Or complementing me? Those two are in the same category and very similar." I whisper, looking into his mocha eyes.

"Could be either one, you have to figure out. But I must warn you, I have a knack for complementing beautiful things."

The heat never left my cheeks that night, they were either very hot or slightly warm. The night was amazing to say the least, I got to look into his mocha eyes and see pretty fire hair.

\-----------------

I never hated life more than this moment. I was at Joshua's house on a fricken Sunday. The week passed by like a breeze and Joshua invited me to stay over during the weekend, which I gleefully accepted. Yet for some reason my mind thought it would be a great idea to attack me full force and I just can't seem to get up from my position without having pain shoot through my head or crying.

"Tyler." Joshua whispered softly, trailing his fingers along my arm soothingly.

I opened my eyes and winced at the sudden sight of bright lights. Joshua noticed this and looked into my eyes before rolling out of bed and closing the blackout curtains and the door softly.

"Migraine?" He asked, crawling back into bed with me.

I nodded and cocked my head at him.

"I used to get them a lot because of stress, I'm basically an expert now." Joshua laughed, running his hand through my hair.

"I usually just lay in bed all day." I reply, closing my eyes and letting him play with my hair.

I usually hate it when people touch my hair, but if felt nice when he did it.

**TRIGGER WARNING**

My mind was attacking me at full force as usual, repeating all of my insecurities over and over again, repeating all the reasons I should off myself. The pathetic thing was, I believed them most of the time. This was no different. Joshua may have been here but it didn't change my state of mind at all, it didn't matter at all. The president of the United States could be in the room and I'd have the same state of mind I'd have if I was alone. The thoughts that made me think I had no reason to live, nobody would miss me, nobody would care. They repeated all of my insecurities over and over again, taunting me every chance they could get.

"You're pathetic"  
"No one will ever love you"   
"You are whiny bitch nobody can stand"  
"You have no one"  
"Your mom even hates you"   
"Your dad hated you as well, why do you think he left?"

"Stop thinking for a moment, Tyler, its only going to hurt you more." Joshua broke me out of my trance, rubbing his thumb across my cheekbone.

I only sighed, wondering what I did to deserve this.

"I just want to sleep." My voice was scratchy and soft, cracking a bit as I spoke.

"Then sleep, don't think, just sleep." He mumbled back, bringing the blanket to reach my shoulders.

"I can't sleep, Joshua, that's the thing." I reply, letting my eyes land on the boy in front of me.

Joshua searches my eyes for a bit, as if he was trying to read every one of my pages.

"Then talk, tell me what you're thinking. It doesn't matter if it's the most random thing or if it's really sad, you just have to talk. The more you keep it in, the more it's going to bother you." He spoke.

"Why are you being so nice to me?" I suddenly asked after a few moments.

"Because you deserve it."


	6. Hurricane katrina, more like hurricane tortiLLA

On Monday, I felt sufficiently better. Maybe it was because I slept all day, or maybe it was because I had someone who cared around me. Either way, I felt amazing.

"Tyjo, get up, we have school." Joshua chanted, opening the blinds and letting sunlight filter in.

I groaned, turning on my stomach to shove my face in the silky pillow.

"Just warning you, Brendon, Dallon, and Ashley are coming over in a little bit so we can all go to school together." He added, laughing as I groaned once more. "Fine, but I'm telling you, Mel is going to force you out of bed and most likely help you get ready."

I grunted in response before drifting off to sleep once more.

~~~like, 10 mins later~~~

"Tyler Joseph! Get your ass up before we're late!" Someone shrieked, causing me to yelp.

I opened my eyes and frowned to see that Ashley was hovering above me with a stern expression. I groaned for the tenth time that morning before grabbing the nearest pillow and smacking her with it.

"Stop complaining, you have twenty minutes to get ready, now move!" She yelled, ripping my covers off and exposing my bare torso.

"I'll go take a shower, then get dressed." I mumbled, slowly stumbling out of the room.

"I'm picking your outfit!" Ashley stated.

Once in the bathroom, I grabbed my toothbrush and toothpaste to brush my teeth. After I was finished cleaning my teeth and washing my face, I began the process of showering.

Turning the faucet on hot, I took off my boxers, that's all I slept in, and stepped under the running water. I didn't mind the cold at first, since I always turn the water to cold during the middle of my showers. (Did you know that cold showers help your body release antidepressants? I turn my showers cold all the time bc of this)

"Tyler! Hurry up!" Brendon shouted from outside of the bathroom.

"Chill, we have time." I responded, squirting some shampoo into my hand before washing my hair.

"All you need is to shampoo your hair and wash your body! It doesn't take that long." He whined, making me smile.

"I condition as well, it keeps my hair soft."

I heard a huff before fading footsteps. Finishing up, I dry off my body and use the towel to cover my lower region as I walked back to Joshua's room. Brendon whistled jokingly, earning a smack on the back of the head by me.

"You, like, never work out! How are you so fit?" Dallon whines.

I shrug before looking at what Ashley picked out for me. A gray shirt, black skinny jeans, my favorite floral kimono, and floral vans.

"I like basketball, sue me."

Dallon laughed, crossing his arms.

"You know me so well." I looked to the small girl, who only smiled and nodded before shoving the outfit in my hands and pushing everyone out.

I got dressed, grabbed my phone and book bag, then proceeded to walk downstairs to find my friends.

God, my friends, I love saying that.

"Tyler, you look amazing." Mama Dun suddenly complimented.

I jumped slightly but nodded with a smile and looked to the ground, feeling heat rush to my cheeks. I rushed to the living room and saw my friends, I silently motioned for us to leave, which we did.

"Shotgun!" Brendon shouted.

"Nope, you promised Tyler he could ride up front last time." Dallon said smugly, laughing as the hyper boy pouted.

I smile thankfully at him before climbing in the passenger seat. Joshua sat in the drivers seat and made sure everyone was buckled up before backing out of the driveway and beginning the drive to school.

"Ty, can you turn the radio on?" Ashley asked.

I shook my head no before plugging the aux cord into my phone and clicking the Spotify app. Smiling devilishly, I chose Of Mice & Men and began head banging.(Austin left the band and I'm so sad, my poor baby has been in and out of the hospital to the point where he can't continue doing what he loves anymore)

"Oh my lord! Tyler Joseph, turn it off!" Dallon pleaded, covering his ears.

Just as he said that, we reached a red light and Joshua joined in, head banging with me.

"You fucking emo's!" Brendon laughed, whilst Ashley was cracking up.

"You know it!" Joshua yelled over the music.

The light turned green so he had to stop head banging. I turned off the screamo and went to YouTube instead, where I typed up 'Bohemian Rhapsody', clicking the first video.

The car ride was about ten minutes so we spent most of it singing the song obnoxiously loud. Every time a high note came on, Joshua, Ash, and Dallon stayed quiet so Brendon and I could sing it. I must say, that boy has a talent.

"Jesus Tyler, I thought Brendon was the only one who could sing high notes." Dallon awed, making me blush.

"Awe! Ty-guy is blushing!" Ashley laughed.

I rolled my eyes and trailed them to the window, going over what happened in the past few days. I feel like I fell asleep in my bed back in Washington and I'm having one long dream. I was a loner, a nerd, I was the quiet one no one liked. I was invisible.

Now I have four amazing friends that treat me like a human and would standup for me if anybody tried to bully me, they care so much to the point I feel like I could tell them everything, and I care about them more than anything in this world, I would possibly fight someone for them, yet I don't think they need it.

Unless I'm dreaming. I could be dreaming, my mind could of created a world where I wasn't the loser. Maybe I'm in an asylum? Have I gone crazy and this is all my imagination?

"Pinch me." I mumble, capturing the attention of all four people in the car.

"What?" Brendon asks.

"I want to make sure I'm not dreaming. For all I know, this could all be a dream conjured up by my imagination and I could be in an asylum or something. I want to make sure that you guys are real and some people at least know I exist, because I don't deserve any of this."

They all stare at me in shock, until a small prick on my arm makes me flinch.

"Real." Joshua states before turning the car off, I didn't even notice we parked.

I smiled, unbuckling.

"Ty, you do know that we'd do anything for you right? You aren't just another person. Brendon drags newbies in all the time and we show them who they should hang out, because honestly, we don't like many people. Yet you are still here, ever wonder why?" Dallon states, looking at me through the rear view mirror.

"You're special, Ty, not many people understand you, they don't understand us," Ashley starts, motioning to herself and the others, "that's why we stick together. You may be quiet and small, but you think so complexly it's amazing. You care about the people around you, you aren't stupid, you aren't stuck up, and I'm pretty sure you'd even help someone that was an asshole to you." I looked at my hands in my lap and blushed.

"You want to know something?" Brendon questioned, crossing his arms over his chest. "The moment I saw you walking down the sidewalk, I knew you were something. And I was right, you are the sweetest, smartest, most humble guy I've ever met."

"Not to mention the strongest. I'm not talking about physically, I'm talking about mentally. Yesterday you were having a full blown war going on up there, yet you managed to not break down into a million little pieces like most people do. Right now even, I can tell you are having a hard time mentally, but you're still here. You manage to focus on school, hanging out with us, and take care of yourself." Joshua's eyes were burning into the side of my head, so I looked up.

His eyes held so much. Pride, happiness, and adoration. It took me all my will strength to not spill my guts out to them.

You know what?

Fuck it.


	7. Some people care, others love

"The thing is, sometimes I don't take care of myself. Sometimes I'm not strong. Sometimes I'm stupid. Sometimes I can be so stupid it hurts me." I reply, curling myself into a ball.

Everyone was quiet for a few seconds, yet they felt like hours.

"Buckle up, we're going somewhere." Joshua spoke, turning the car back on before leaving the school.

The ride was silent, which worried me greatly. I probably just ruined everything. Now they know and think I'm a loser, I'm an emotional freak who hates himself to the point where he only has one escape.

Great job, idiot, now you'll be alone forever.

God, he's back again.

I'm only saying the truth, deal with it. You fucking wuss.

Five minutes later and the car was stopped and turned off at the edge of the woods.

"C'mon, most of you have been here before." Joshua's voice was soft as he took my hand once I got out of the car.

His hand was soft yet a little rough, and fit perfectly with mine. We were walking through the woods for a few minutes before we reached a treehouse.

"Welcome to your new favorite place." Brendon grinned, climbing the ladder.

Once we were all inside the treehouse and settled down, Joshua looked at me eye.

"Tyler, everyone has their breaking points and things they lean on when they snap. Some may not be as healthy as others, but the fact that you're still hear is proof enough that you are strong. And goddamnit, if you don't think we won't be there for you when you have bad days, you might as well be in an asylum."

"That's what I meant about how everyone in this treehouse understands. God forbid any of were always this happy. We've had our ups and downs, hell, we've probably almost killed ourselves leaning on anything other than each other. No matter what is going on up in your mind and how bad of a day it is, you go to us instead of that." Ashley stated, smiling softly.

"And I know for a fact we can lean on you if we need to." Dallon added.

I nodded, letting out a raspy 'yes'. I was on the verge of tears, happy tears. My lip was swollen from how hard I've been bitting it to hide my smile.

I would do anything for my friends. Dallon, Brendon, Ashley and Joshua. I'd take a bullet for any of them. I've never felt like I had a family before, I've never felt loved before, even as a child my mother ignored me. This felt amazing. I curled myself into a ball and set my nose between my knees before speaking.

"Before I met you guys, I had no one. My mom acted like I didn't exist except for the times she'd put me down or tell me bad news, my dad is out of the picture, at my old school everyone hated me, I contemplated offing myself a day before I moved. I planned on offing myself, then Brendon came into the picture and introduced me to you guys. Now I feel like I have a purpose and people would miss me if I left."

That's when the waterworks started. Tears escaped my eyes at a rapid rate, and sobs threatened to come out. I hid my face in my sleeves before Joshua hugged me tightly and let me bury my face into his neck and cry.

"If you were weak, you wouldn't be able to tell us that." Joshua whispered in my ear.

"I'm just gonna go ahead and say that those are happy tears." Ashley suggested with a clogged voice.

I nodded with a smile, pulling away from Joshua and sniffling while wiping my eyes.

"Thanks, now I'm an emotional mess." I mumble jokingly.

"Aren't we all?" Brendon remarked, causing me to let a laugh out for the first time in years.

"Ah-ha! I made you laugh, let's go!" He pumped his fist in the air and laughed loudly.

"God, I can't remember the last time I laughed." I added, smiling widely.

"You look better with a smile, Ty." Ashley complimented.

Before I could respond, Dallon jumped in.

"So, tell us about you and your life and we'll do the same." He stated, shimmying a little bit closer to me.

"Uh, okay? There's not much to say."

"Bullshit, tell us about Washington, you family, how many times you've thought of killing people, stuff like that! Especially when your mind decided to be an asshat." Brendon huffed, grabbing a blanket nearby and placing it over all of us.

Ashley grabbed a pillow and hugged it close to her, watching with expectant eyes.

"Okay, um, hm. My dad left when  
I was like ten, he took all my siblings and left me with a pathetic excuse for a mother. When I was eleven, I started feeling sad. So, like the mamas boy I thought I was, I told my mom. She said it was nothing and brushed me off. That's about the time I realized my mom was pathetic. She always ignored me, only talked to me when she needed things, told me I was useless, and blamed me for my dad leaving. Then middle school came. Everyone was insecure and decided I was the perfect person to put down so they feel better about themselves, I was technically their play toy. But I never paid attention to their words, I had so reason to. God, those kids really were pathetic. I started to degrade myself for no reason because I had no friends. I thought nobody wanted to waste time trying to be my friend. My mom didn't help that, she made me feel like shit. She always came home drunk and yelling, sometimes hitting me for no reason. I contemplated killing myself that year. But then, high school came around. Everyone had their place and saw me as the loner, nerdy kid, people may have terrorized me for years before that, but god freshman year was the worst. I probably hated myself more than anyone hated me, which was a lot. I hurt myself for the first time that year. My arms looked horrid, then one day I decided to stop. I realized that scarring my body wasn't going to help anybody. I've been two years clean so far, which is why I proudly go around the house without a shirt on." I laughed dryly, wiping my eyes with the sleeve of my kimono before continuing. "The most amazing thing happened recently. I moved to Ohio from Washington and met four amazing people I really don't deserve. The second day I saw you guys, I thought to myself 'is this reality? People actually like me enough to be my friend. I think I've gone insane.' Yesterday and today proved to me that people actually care about me and I care about people to the extent of where I would take a bullet for them. I think this is the happiest I've been throughout the entire sixteen years I've been on this planet."

"Goddamnit Ty, you're gonna make me cry." Brendon huffed, sniffling slightly.

I shrugged softly with a smile before leaning on Joshua.

"Okay, so you deserve absolutely everything happy in the world. But since we're sharing things about ourselves I'll go next." Ashley spoke, clearing her throat with a laugh.

"Sixteen or so years ago, a pathetic piece of shit and an angel had a baby. One was a stripper and the other was a businessman. The dad, he was the businessman, was a complete asshole who cheated on his wife with a stripper. The mom, she was the stripper, didn't know the dad was married and was only doing it to support herself. Mom got pregnant, so she stopped her stripper ways and went to dad. He gave her enough money to abort the baby and she didn't, she used the money to support herself and the child. One day, mom went back to her parents and asked if she could stay, they said no. Then she went to the last people she could, the dad's parents. The dad's parents were incredibly nice, they even threatened to shut down the dad's business if he didn't send in some money every month to support the baby. The child soon grew up and was tortured at school. It all started in middle school, the rumor got around that the child's mom was a stripper and made me strip as well. I obviously don't but whatever, that was back when kids would do anything for drama. After middle school, high school came around. Freshman year was a kick in the ass, until a sweet little angel called Brendon came around and punched someone in the eye for calling me a slut. Then friendship happened, yeah, someone else go." Ashley tucked herself under the blankets, letting her head rest on Brendon's lap.

"Joshua, you go." Ashley chirped, bouncing slightly in her spot.

"Sure, I guess."

"Wait-wait! Let's not forget the time Josh broke someone's jaw for calling you a whore and holding you down on the ground in the hallway whilst writing 'slut' on your cheek." Dallon added, laughing.

"I would've done worse if the principal didn't get involved." He mumbled, making me gasp with a laugh.

"Bad Joshua, go in the corner!" I smacked his arm playfully, causing him to laugh and get up.

"No, no, I was kidding, get back here. You're comfy." Pulling him back on the big bed, I crawled on top of him.

"You're punishment is having to deal with my body weight."

"No offense Tyler, but you weigh as much as Ashley, which is nothing." Joshua laughs, letting me crawl onto his lap nonetheless.

"I smell the gay radiating around this room." Dallon chuckles.

"That's because everyone in this room is either gay." Ashley giggles.

"True, true."

"Okay, you guys be quiet, let Joshua speak." I demanded playfully, getting comfortable once again.

"Okay then, I guess it all started when an alcoholic and a druggie met one day at a bar. They had sex, so one of them popped out a little child. They had sex again, so another child popped out five years later. One day, the alcoholic got too drunk and started to hit the five year old, so the ten year old punched him and took the beating. By the time the elder turned thirteen, he could beat up his old man. The druggie decided to go to rehab and leave her two sons with the alcoholic, abusive alcoholic might I add. Since one of the old man's play toys left, he tried to hit the younger of his two sons, only to end up in the hospital with a broken jaw and bruised up face. The two children went into a home, where they were actually adopted. Now, unlike most teenage boys, these two were very polite and knew what the circumstances had to be if they were to run. Yet the couple treated them like real family so the boys decided not to run and to take the couples' last name. Those boys grew up to be Joshua and Jordon Dun. Nobody ever dared to mess with the brothers, since one of them was on the news because he put his father in the hospital. Soon after that, Jordan had enough of living, he was tired of dealing with the voices in his head, so he did the only thing he thought was logical. Pills. He swallowed a bunch of pills. Josh found him in the bathtub with a stomach full of pills and blamed it all on himself. One faithful day, Josh was found on a bridge by someone named Brendon Urie. He was offered cigarettes in return for getting off the bridge, which was a stupid bargain, but took it. Only because someone actually cared enough about a stranger to stop them from jumping off a bridge. From then on, Josh met people that he would kill for, hell, he'd live for them. The end." Tyler looked at Joshua, tears formed in his eyes before he hugged Joshua tightly.

Silence took place for a few moments while Brendon and Joshua had a conversation with no words.

"Moving on! Dallon, you're next."

"Okay, so let me tell you my sob story. Once upon a time in a far away land, a single mother popped out this tall ass baby. She was happy, she kept the baby safe and cared so much about him. She raised this baby to love and accept all people, accept for people who hated on others for no good fuckin' reason. This baby grew up a total mamas boy, so when the day came that the boy's mother found a man, he was extremely protective. One day, this man decided it was the smartest idea in the world to hit the mother, so the boy fucked him up. The boy was brought court, but was able to plead self defense, and won. This mother and son still live together, working their asses of to support each other and their friends. The mother loved her son more than anything in the world, and vice versa. The son was always a loner, until one day in freshman year, this weird boy named Breadbin Urine took him in. Although this seems like a happy story, it still has some ups and downs, but the boy has friends to be there for him during those hard times. That's all I can think of. The end." Dallon smiled happily, which somehow brought a smile to my face.

"Jesus, Dal, you frickin' mamas boy." Brendon teased, nudging Dallon's shoulder lightly.

"Whatever, breadbin, it's your turn."

"Hear yee, hear yee! Gather 'round for a tale of depression, happiness, grief and laughs! There once was a boy who had the shittiest parents in the entire history of parents. They neglected him, making him have to feed himself and take care of himself. He thought he wasn't worthy of love, so he began to self harm. One day, this boy's mother found out and locked him in a shed on a cold, winter night. He stayed there for a good two days with nothing but a rag until someone heard him crying. This sweet man kicked the door open and saved the boy. He called he cops before running the boy a warm bath and feeding him. The cops arrested the parents, and to make a long story short, the man adopted the boy. This man was only twenty six years old while this kid was thirteen. He cherished the boy and taught him he was worthy of love. He put the boy back together piece by piece until he was whole again. The man taught the boy how to love other people and how other people he loved should be treated. He taught the boy how to make friends. He saved the boy. The end."


	8. More espresso less depresso

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> mood

****3 months later****

Tyler went to school alone today since Joshua was picking Brendon and Dallon up while Ashley went to school early for tutoring. He decided to go early as well for the same reason as Ashley.

Pushing the heavy, grey school doors open, one thing caught Tyler's attention. Whimpering. Not the sexual kind or the 'I don't want to be here' kind, it sounded pained.

"St-stop it! What di-did I e-ever do t-t-to you?" Tyler was fuming, Ashley's voice ricocheting through the hallways set him off.

He immediately headed towards the whimpers and cries, seeing only red once he heard a scream.

"You're a fucking slut, that's what!" This made Tyler even more livid, it was a boy's voice.

It didn't take him very long to find Ashley, but that was predictable. What wasn't though, was the sight he would find.

Ashley was on the ground with the words 'slut' and 'whore' written all over her while she was being kicked in the stomach.

"You guys reached a whole other level of low." Tyler growled.

There were two culprits and they both turned around to face him at the same time.

"Fuck off, like you can do anything about it." One of them snapped back.

Tyler glanced at the small girl on the ground, taking in her wide, trusting eyes. She expected him to do something, she needed him to do something.

"First off, if I don't want to solve this with violence, I can get a staff member and show them the footage of you beating her up, since there are cameras, which would lead to getting you hours of community service, jail time, and most likely get you both expelled. Secondly, if I want to solve this with violence, I can punch you both in the throat then step on you and spit on you for good fun before bringing Ashley to the nurse's office, which will end up in her going to the hospital, the doctor will obviously ask who did this and I'll reply with 'just some fucking idiots from school'. The outcome is basically the same either way, but I would rather not be interrogated because I punched two guys in the throat so I'll do this with no violence," Tyler smiled sweetly before holding up five fingers, "you both have five seconds to get out of here before I go and scream for help."

They two dimwits looked at each other before taking off. Tyler rushed to Ashley and helped her sit up, wiping her tears.

"Ash," he sighed, frowning at her current state, "I have to call Joshua and the others so we can bring you to the hospital."

"No, ju-just stay with me for a bit." The small girl whimpered, wrapping her arms around Tyler's neck and burying her face in his collar bone. "N-Nobody c-comes back he-here."

"Alright, Joshua will probably call asking where I am anyways."

Tyler situated them so Ashley was on his lap with her face buried in the crook of his neck and her arms wrapped around his back as well while Tyler wrapped his arms gently around her waist and his chin set atop her head. Ashley cried for a while and Tyler just let her, she was terrified, she needed someone to be there. So Tyler was there. He grabbed his phone and dialed Joshua's number quick, not even letting him speak as he picked up almost immediately.

"We are in one of the hallways at the back of the school, the one where people think that there aren't any cameras." He spoke.

"Why? Wh-what happened?" Joshua's voice was caring and soft.

"Ash-," Tyler looked down at Ashley's weak state and decided to not talk about it just yet, "just get here, quick."

The brunet hung up before the small girl in his lap looked up at him. Her makeup was smudged, hiccups sounded from her lips, and she had this look on her face that was so vulnerable and sad. 

"There are makeup removers in my bag." She mumbled before placing her head in the same position it was in before.

Tyler hummed, eyes shooting up as footsteps could be heard. They kept getting louder until three very concerned looking teenagers appeared.

"What the hell? Ty, what happened?" Brendon questioned.

Tyler ignored the question before motioning to the spot next to him.

"Joshua, I need your hat." He spoke.

The elder have him a confused look before handing him the hat. Tyler smiled gratefully and gently moved Ashley back a bit before placing the hat on her messy hair to mostly hide the words written on her face.

"We need to bring her to the nurse's office, but she can't walk." He said.

The others got the idea that they shouldn't talk about what happened with Ashley around, she was obviously the victim.

Tyler mumbled to the small girl that she needed to get off of his lap real quick so he could carry her. Ashley nodded, slowly climbing off of him, wincing in pain a few times. Tyler picked her up softly, not wanting to hurt her anymore after grabbing her bag.

The group of friends took the back way to get to the nurse's office so they weren't seen, walking silently.

It doesn't take rocket science to tell that Tyler was still fuming. His jaw was clenched, footsteps heavy, and eyes held pure hatred, only softening when he looked to his friends.

Once they reached the nurse's office, Ashley was asleep. The office wasn't open, but they would definitely make an exception for a kid in this condition.

Tyler told the others to stay outside while he handled this before walking straight in without knocking.

"We aren't open ye-oh shit." The nurse gasped, shooting out of her seat in the blink of an eye.

The brunet set the girl down on one of the beds gently, jumping slightly as she woke up suddenly and started coughing blood into the trashcan next to her.

"I-I can't do anything about this, we have to call the ambulance to take her to the hospital." The nurse spoke, rushing to the phone and dialing.

Tyler went into the restroom, grabbed some paper towels, and wet them before going back to Ashley. He set next to her and took the hat off, wiping the words off of her face before reaching into her bag and taking out her makeup remover wipes to clean her off fully.

"The ambulance will be here in five minutes max, but only one person can go in there. Talk about it with your friends. I need to inform the main office."

The boy nodded, kissing Ashley's bruised cheek before getting up and walking outside of the office to talk to his friends as the nurse was heading to the main office.

"The ambulance are on their way, but only one can go in." Tyler informed.

"You can go Ty, we'll catch up. We have to call her mom anyways," Dallon smiled, pointing into the room, "now go, she needs you."

Tyler smiled gratefully back and rushed inside to see Ashley. She was whimpering, holding her torso protectively as she coughed up blood.

"It's okay, sweetie, we're going to the hospital soon." He whispered.

"I-I ne-need to c-call my m-mom an-and t-"

"The others are taking care of that, just relax."

Soon the sound of sirens could be heard and paramedics were rushing into the room with a stretcher. Throughout all of the chaos, Ashley took Tyler's hand in her's as she was placed onto the cot. Joshua, Dallon, and Brendon were seen in the corner of Tyler's eye while the paramedics took him and Ashley to the ambulance. Some students were watching curiously while the scene unfolded in front of their eyes. As soon as the brunet entered the truck, the doors shut and they were off.

The paramedics hooked Ashley up to the equipment hurriedly, checking her vitals and other things, yet the only thing Tyler could do was watch. He felt as if he needed to help the small girl, almost like he didn't do enough for her.

The rest of the ride and the process of getting Ashley into the ER was a blur and now Tyler was sitting on the floor in the waiting room, hands tangled in his hair and knees up to his chest. His cheeks were stained with tears, eyes gathering more and letting those escape as well. He didn't know what else to do, so he just cried.

Tyler sat there for about half an hour before someone approached and sat next to him. He looked up and saw that the person who was next to him resembled Ashley so much it was scary, so he presumed it was her mother.

"Are you Tyler Joseph?" The woman asked, eyes glossy with tears and voice clogged.

Tyler nodded, too shocked to use his voice. Ashley's mother let out a sob before enveloping him in a tight hug.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you." She mumbled repeatedly.

The brunet hugged back, letting tears out freely as the two just held each other. Soon the woman pulled away and wiped her tears away with the back of her hand.

"I'm Nicole by the way, Ashley's mom." Nicole informed, chuckling softly.

"Well, you already know my name, I'm guessing Joshua told you." Tyler shrugged, smiling softly.

"Yeah," she sighed, letting her head hit the wall behind her, "you have no idea how grateful I am that you were there in time whenever this happened. What did happen, though? Josh didn't tell me."

"That's because I didn't tell him. I guess I should start from the beginning." He copied Nicole's movements, closing his eyes for a few moments to hold back anymore tears as he thought of the memory.

"I went to school earlier than usual because I wanted to get homework done, until I heard Ashley's whimpers and her voice telling the boys to stop, so I ran and found her quick. She was being kicked in the stomach by two douchebags and had the words 'slut' and 'whore' written on her face, thankfully not in permanent marker. I couldn't make your daughter walk or even move her right after so I called Joshua and told him to come quick with the others. Soon they got there then I took her to the nurse's office bla, bla, bla, the nurse called the ambulance and now I'm here. Honestly, the ride here and process of getting Ashley in the ER was a total blur, I was and still am a crying mess. Oh, I can't forget to tell you that in the nurse's office, she started coughing blood because of how hard she was kicked in the stomach." Tyler's voice was shaky, cracking at the last sentence.

Both started crying, involuntary, again. Right after Tyler finished speaking, Joshua, Brendon, and Dallon appeared with messy hair and red eyes.

"Any updates?" Brendon asked, his voice wrecked.

The two on the ground shook their heads. Joshua sat next to Tyler and ran his hands through his hair, tugging at it stressfully while Brendon and Dallon sat next to Nicole.

A doctor walked into the waiting room with a clipboard soon after.

"Ashley Frangipane?"

The five immediately shot up from the ground, rushing over to him.

"We are only allowing family right now, sorry." He looked at the group through his glasses and smiled softly.

"That's me and him." Nicole pointed to Tyler and herself, worry painting her features but smiling apologetically at the others behind her, the three nodding in understanding with a smile as well.

The doctor motioned for the two to follow him, turning around and walking through the heavy doors that had 'ER' printed above them. Tyler complied but gave the woman next to him a confused look.

"You practically saved her life, Tyler, you deserve to see her as well." She whispered to him sweetly.

The brunet smiled widely at that, giving her a side hug.

Once they reached Ashley's room, Nicole and Tyler rushed to the side of her cot, eyes watering at the sight. She was wearing only a hospital gown and had cuts and bruises splattering all over her arms, face, legs, they were covering her body, a breathing mask was also covering her mouth and nose.

"Okay, so do you two want me to sugar coat her injuries or just say the plain truth?" The doctor asked, walking over to the other side of the cot and looking down at his clipboard.

The two looked at each other, sharing a silent conversation before Nicole averted her eyes to the doctor.

"Truth."

"Well, she has one cracked rib, lung damage, slight internal bleeding, a sprained wrist, and obvious bruising all over her. For the cracked rib, we give her painkillers and a bandage to wear, but make sure it's not wrapped too tightly, for this stops her lungs from expanding properly and we definitely don't need that. For the lung damage, just use painkillers and they'll heal on their own, for the sprained wrist, just a wrist guard. Now," the doctor sighed, setting the clipboard on the side of the cot before looking at both of us, "since she was kicked, I presume she was, so hard in the stomach, she'll need her appendix taken out."

Nicole and Tyler stared at the doctor with wide eyes.

"I-I don't have that kind of money and I can't ask her grandparents to pitch in, I've already asked for enough money." The woman let tears escape, fear evident in her eyes.

"That doesn't matter dear, this is our grandchild for christ sake!" A strange voice butted in behind them, resulting in Tyler and Nicole spinning around quickly.

Tyler guess they were Ashley's grandparents from what one of them said.

"Who-who called you guys?" Nicole questioned.

"The hospital, we are on the emergency contact list." The gruff man responded like it was obvious.

"Who's that?" The older woman asked, pointing at Tyler.

"This is Tyler, he was the one that found Ashley and told the people who were beating her up to fuck off, indirectly of course." The woman next to Tyler smiled, motioning to the brunet.

The two elders stared at him for a bit before Ashley's grandmother stepped forward and hugged Tyler tightly.

"Thank you, young man, god knows what would've happened to Ash if you weren't there."

The boy smiled, hugging back gently.

"Yeah, thank you." The man thanked, a genuine smile on his face once his wife pulled away.

"Ty-Tyler." A raspy voice spoke, causing everyone in the room to snap their heads to Ashley as she weakly made small grabby hands at Tyler.

The brunet took her hand softly but quickly, tears glazing his eyes.

"Ple-please don't c-cry, I-I'm alive, th-there's no re-reason to." Ashley stuttered, squeezing her friends' hand gently.

She lowered the oxygen mask with her other hand before looking around at all of the people in the room, her eyes widening.

"This many people in the room might be too overwhelming, we only immediate family right now." The doctor stated, eyeing Tyler.

"Tyler has a right to be in here, he saved Ashley's life! If he didn't get there when he did, she wouldn't be in the hospital and those two walking potatoes would probably still be beating her, so he stays." Nicole argues, narrowing her eyes at the doctor.

There was a long silence before Ashley's grandfather spoke up.

"What exactly happened, Tyler?"

The boy looked at Ashley who shook her head no frantically.

"I can't and won't talk about it while Ash is in the room. It's would imagine it's too traumatizing for her." He responded.

The elderly couple smiled, then turned to face the doctor.

"We will get out of your hair now." The woman said sweetly, turning with her husband and leaving the room.

"M-Mom, can you g-get the others? I need th-them right now. They're f-family." Ashley asked.

"Yes, of course, since family is allowed." Nicole smirked, silently leaving the room as well.

"Now, I need to know if you'd like to do anything to the boys that hurt you, you can file a restraining order, sue them, give them jail time, have them expelled, or all of those." The doctor questioned, eyeing Ashley.

The small girl looked to Tyler and shrugged, almost as if asking him to make the decision.

"I'd say all four, but the finale decision will be made when Nicole gets back."

"Tyler! Is Ash alright?" Brendon's voice popped in behind them.

Tyler turned around and saw the rest of his friends, smiling widely. The doctor walked out of the room before the group of friends ran over to Ashley.

They were all there, just Tyler, Ashley, Joshua, Dallon, and Brendon. Best of all, they were happy.

\----------------


	9. I'd like to see you try, boo boo

It's been a month since the incident and the boys watching over Ashley like hawks, me especially. She could walk now and was practically fully functional, besides the fact that every person scared her half to death, take away Dallon, Joshua, Brendon, and I. Today was a bit different though, who am I kidding, today was fricking hell.

I was curled in a ball in the corner of my bedroom, wheezing with tears spilling over my cheeks as I tried to not have a panic attack. My mother was drunk, not surprising, with a bunch of her friends over. She was having a party, of course without telling her son whom has crippling anxiety when it comes to loud music and drunk people.

I would have called one of my friends to pick me up but my mom took my phone, stating that 'I was having horrible attitude'. I don't respond to one of your ridiculous questions and ask if I can leave rather politely. Right, I was raised like a brat. 

Moving on to my current state, the wheezing, teary eyed ball in the corner of the room. I felt terrified, the loud music and chatter spiking up my anxiety, the drunk people bringing back terrible memories that I thought were buried in the deepest, darkest corner of my brain-.

A sharp knock caused me to jump and hug myself tighter, squeezing my eyes shut. I heard slight shuffling before a body was seated in front of me.

"Ty, it's just me, Josh." His voice soothed, hand gently cradling my face.

I slowly opened my eyes and loosened the grip on myself. Sure enough, Joshua was there.

"Come on, I know you don't like parties so you're coming to my house." The redhead helped me up, holding my hand once we were standing.

"I don't have my phone, my mom took it." I informed.

"Her problem, now let's go." Joshua replied, leading me to the balcony.

We left the vicinity unnoticed, walking down the street.

"You have clothes at my house if you want to spend the night." He suggested, getting a hum of approval from me.

We walked silently, the moonlight and streetlamps lighting up the path.

"What time is it?" I asked.

Joshua took his phone out and turned it on, sighing as he read the screen.

"Almost one a'clock in the morning."

Great, absolutely great. My mom was partying her ass of, as usual, probably forgot she had a son, as usual, and now Joshua has to come save me, not as usual. Huh, weird.

"Ty, we're here." Joshua snapped me out of my trance, motioning to his front door.

I nodded and walked in quietly, not wanting to disturb anyone. As I walked in the living room behind Joshua, I saw that his sister had some friends over and they were playing Mario cart. From what I know, she has mostly guy friends since she hates drama.

"I love Mario Cart." I informed the redhead, watching as Joshua's sister Abigail came in third place.

"Come on, Abigail! You suck at this game." One of her friends exclaimed.

"You any good?" Joshua asked, nudging my shoulder with his.

"Yeah, actually. I'm amazing at that game."

The older boy smirked before grabbing my wrist and dragging me over to the other kids, plopping me next to Abigail. The teens suddenly shut up, flickering their eyes between Joshua and I.

"Hey, you're Tyler, right? Joshua is always talking about how much he-" Abigail laughed as her brother pushed her over from her sitting position.

"Jerk." Joshua rolled his eyes.

"Bitch." His sister snapped back.

"Asshat."

"Dickwad."

"Fuckface."

"Innocent ears over here," one of Abigail's friends pointed to me, "so shut the fuck up." Everyone laughed, except me of course.

Abigail looked at me before motioning for me to take her controller.

"Wanna try?" She suggested, smiling widely as I took the controller.

Thirty minutes later and ten round of me winning, Joshua's mother came out to intervene.

"What is all the ruckus about? I thought I told you to be quiet while playing Mario cart." She snapped.

"Sorry mom, it's just that Tyler is a fucking god at Mario cart! He just can't lose!" Abigail whined, pointing at me accusingly.

"Sorry that you guys suck." I retorted playfully.

She shoved me rather harshly, sticking her tongue out in my direction. Smiling, I glared at her jokingly before shoving her back.

"Go to bed, please. It's almost three in the morning." Laura sighed.

Abigail and her friends huffed, getting up the nonetheless and heading upstairs.

"You two as well." She pointed at Joshua and I, exiting the room silently.

Joshua smiled, intertwining our fingers before pulling me up and dragging me upstairs to his room. Tonight might be a good night.


	10. Hey, Mr. Blue

It's crazy, really. How the mind can go from extremely happy to depressed in a matter of hours. The weird thing is, I always tend to be sad, especially on Sundays, but today I am not really in a state of panic or major depression, I'm just sadder than usual, on a Saturday. I feel sort of, empty, yet I'm still sad. Really sad, but I don't feel like crying. It's sort of like an empty-sad.

"Tyler? You there?" Joshua's voice snapped me back into reality, causing me to jump slightly before nodding.

I looked around and realized I was in his room, sitting up on his bed.

"Yeah, sorry, I-I was just thinking."

He nodded, looking into my eyes for a few seconds before motioning me to lay back down. I complied, giving him a confused look.

"If you think now, it might not be as bad tomorrow." Joshua stated, laying down next to me and taking my hand, closing his eyes.

"What are you doing?" I ask.

"Thinking." He opened his eyes and looked at me.

"About what?"

"Nothing important."

"That's the thing, Joshua, there is a difference between unimportant and nothing important. Unimportant is what we use when we really mean something is not important, nothing important is what we use when something is really important but we try to hide it's importance. So tell me, what are you thinking?" I replied with a smirk.

"I thinking about how well and thought out your words are, you must practice that a lot." He smirked back.

"I practice it every day in front of the mirror, now stop avoiding my question."

"This is the part where we reach the classroom, but we're at home." 

I laughed softly, getting lost in his brownish-greenish eyes.

"You eyes aren't brown, they're like a brownish-greenish." I state.

"Wow, no one else has really noticed that, not even my mom." Joshua smiled sweetly.

"I am one to observe."

"Which is one of the reasons I love you."

My heart suddenly fluttered, a warm feeling pervading around my body.

"There's more than one?" I whisper.

"Of course, what's not to love about you?" He made it seem like it was obvious.

I blushed, not replying.

"Exactly."

We were quiet for a few minutes, just appreciating each other's presence.

"You never answered my question." I broke the silence.

"Don't worry about it, its nothing bad."

I didn't push it, knowing he clearly didn't want to talk about it.

The feeling in my stomach still hasn't left yet, and every time I look Joshua it gets stronger. It feels good, though, it's not bad at all. Like sitting next to a fire on a cold day or swimming in a cold pool on a hot day. It doesn't help that I only ever feel safe with Joshua.

Oh shit.

I like Joshua.

Wednesday

I sighed comfortably, pulling the covers over my body a little bit more as Joshua read by the window next to me. Joshua and I decided to go to the treehouse together, agreeing it would be much more relaxing.

"Tyler?" Joshua calls quietly.

"Yes?" I replied instantly.

"Can I talk to you about something very personal?"

"Of course you can."

I sit up and watch as he sets his book down and sits next to me. I lay my head on his shoulder before looking at him with expectant eyes. Joshua sighs, running a hand through his hair.

"I think I like someone," he confesses, "but I'm not sure if they like me back. See, they already have enough to deal with and I'm worried if I tell them, it might make the situation worse."

I was silent for a few minutes, sadness overcoming me as I realized any chance of him liking me back was diminished.

"If they don't like you back, they don't deserve you. You are sweet, strong, the right amount of protective, smart, and all around amazing. If they can't see that, then they must be blind. But if they like you back yet dating you might make their situation worse, you're wrong. You make my day better just by texting me, I'm sure they would be better off dating you than be single." I reply, lifting my head up before looking into his eyes.

"So should I just go for it or wait for them to make the first move." The redhead asked.

"Go for it." I state.

Joshua leaned towards me and flickered his eyes to my lips, making me realize what he meant. I blushed, nodding before letting him close the gap between our lips. Let me tell you, it felt amazing. It wasn't full of fireworks or anything, it was calming. Like a small waterfall pouring into a small lake. Or like a cool breeze on a hot day. It was comfortable. It was safe.

Joshua slowly moved us so we were laying down and he was hovering over me, our lips still moving together. He guided my arms so they were around his neck, his own holding my waist gently. Joshua bit my bottom lip softly as if asking for me to open my mouth, which I did. Our tongues slid across each other, making me hum happily. We split apart after a few minutes so we could catch our breath.

"I think he likes me back." Joshua whispered breathlessly, resting his forehead on mine.

"Maybe you should try again, just to be sure." I replied, smiling lazily.

The redhead smirked, nodding before attaching our lips once again.

"Oh my god!" A voice shrieked, causing us to jump apart.

Ashley, Brendon, and Dallon were standing a few feet away from the bed, shocked expressions in their faces.

I blushed deeply, bringing my knees up to my chest and hiding my cheeks behind them.

"I knew it! I knew it! I knew you guys liked each other!" Brendon chirped, jumping up and down excitedly.

I glanced at Joshua and saw him roll his eyes, making me giggle.

"We all knew that, Brendon," Ashley laughed before motioning the others to leave,"now let's give them some time alone." The girl winked at me before leaving as well.

I took my face out of its previous position between my knees and looked at Joshua.

"I think this is the part where you stop mentally undressing me and kiss me again." I tease, laughing as he pinned me back to the bed and smashed his lips to mine, both of us smiling into the kiss.

I could get used if this.


	11. "What do you have!?" A knife!! "No!!!"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> short but sad

Joshua was woken up by a ringing pervading throughout his room, causing him to groan and reach blindly for his phone. Peeking his eyes open, Brendon's contact was shown on his screen. Joshua shot up quickly, answering the phone.

"J-josh? Can you c-come here? I-it's ab-about T-Tyler." Brendon's voice was shaken, worrying Joshua extremely.

"Of course! Where are you guys?"

"Weesly bridge."

Joshua stumbled out of bed and grabbed his shoes before running out of the house.

"Fuck, it's Sunday." He whispered, slipping his shoes on as he started the car.

"J-josh, I'm really scared. He looks so hopeless and terrified, like he actually wants to-"

"Brendon, calm down, I'm heading over there." Joshua was freaking out as well, images of what happened to his brother flashing in front of his eyes.

"Fuck! Josh, he just stepped over the railing! Please hurry!" Brendon begged with a clogged voice.

"Has he seen you?"

"No, and I'm scared what he'll do if he does."

Joshua reached he bridge, parking his car and rushing out.

Tyler was on the other side of the railing.

"Tyler!"

The boy's head shot over to Joshua's voice, cheeks stained with tears. Tyler let it a sob, watching as Joshua ran over to him.

"Tyler, you can't do this to yourself." It was Joshua's turn to cry now.

"I can't handle it anymore, the voices, the constant taunting, everything! Their words scarred me, Joshua, they won't go away. I can't handle it anymore, I want to leave, anything is better than what I go through on a daily basis!" Tyler sobbed.

"But you made it this far! You've made it to sixteen. Please, don't do this, you can't leave us."

"Trust me, you guys would be better off without me."

"No we wouldn't, Tyler. We would all be heartbroken, we love you more than anything. I love you, and you can't leave us without hurting us." Joshua looked into Tyler's eyes, holding his hand out.

The boy glanced at his hand before slowly taking it and letting Joshua help him over the railing. Tyler collapsed into Joshua's arms, sobbing.

"It's okay, you're okay now, I've got you."

Joshua lead Tyler to the car, smiling weakly at Brendon. As soon as Tyler was sat in the back seat, he pulled Joshua in for another hug, sobbing into his chest.

"I-I'm so-sorry-"

"Don't apologize, sweetie, please don't apologize. It's not your fault that you feel this way, and it's definitely not your fault that you want to end those thoughts." The redhead cradled his boyfriend's face in his hands, wiping away any excess tears.

"B-but I went to the bridge, I almost jumped off. If you weren't there, I probably would have." The boy sniffed.

"Yet you're still here, you decided to get off of the bridge, you decided to take my hand. You just saved yourself, Tyler. You could've said no and jumped, yet you didn't."

"That's because you were there, Joshua, if you weren't I wouldn't be here-" Tyler's words were muffled as Joshua pressed their lips together.

Pulling away, the elder looked into Tyler's eyes before letting him go and sitting in the front seat.

Tyler's POV

I can't believe myself, I almost killed myself. Yet, I felt free as I stood on the edge of the bridge. I had control over myself at that moment, my thoughts, my actions, my feelings. I was at peace.

Now I'm sat in the seat next to Joshua, one of his hands intertwined with mine and the other on the steering wheel. I realized we weren't headed to either of our houses, but to the treehouse. The process of getting inside of the treehouse was a big blur, it was as if my mind was on autopilot the whole time.

As soon as we were in the treehouse, Joshua pulled me in for a hug.

"You are so strong, Ty, so so strong."

At this moment, I broke down. I fell into his arms and just cried.

"I-I love you."


	12. HONEY YOUVE GOT A BIGGER STORM COMING

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> HUGE TRIGGER WARNING!! I'M NOT KIDDING, THIS IS A VERY TOUCHY CHAPTER THAT CORRELATES WITH SUICIDE ATTEMPTS, HORRIBLE MENTIONS OF MENTAL ABUSE, AND SELF HARM MENTIONS AND ATTEMPTS!! Btw, I'm going to say this now so you aren't confused. Tyler's mother, in the story, is very very abusive. She used to physically abuse him, but Tyler's brain just cut that part of his life out so he could forget it, it's all a blur for him. She'd call him a worthless faggot and encourage his self harm, and encouraged his suicide.

As he walked, well stumbled, home, a drunk Tyler contemplated everything he just did.

Going over to Joshua's, telling him he couldn't see him anymore with little to no emotion, ending up in an alleyway where a stranger found him, drinking his liver out to forget everything, calling his ex and drunkenly telling Joshua why he broke up with him in the first place, then passing out at the strangers house.

Tyler felt fucking empty.

\----- one day earlier -----

"I do not want you in this house if you are going to prance around with your stupid friends and boyfriend as if you have no responsibilities here!" Tyler's drunk mother yelled at him, "It's pathetic! You used to be so respectful and responsible."

"I-I don't know what you want me to do! You treat me like shit and don't care at all about my mental or physical health, they actually care." Tyler snapped back.

"Shut the fuck up, just shut up! It's not like I actually wanted you! You know what? I demand for you to go and break up with your boyfriend right now, and I'm putting you in online school. No more stupid friends or relationships to distract you." Kelly growled.

"Or what?"

"Or I'll beat the life out of you."

Tyler immediately cowered, he knew his mom actually would. Kelly knows Tyler would never tell anyone about it, he's too scared.

The brunette took a step back and nodded, grabbing his coat before heading out the door and to Joshua's house.

Once he reached his boyfriend's place, he knocked on the door and almost broke down as Joshua opened it.

"Hey, Tyler! How are you?"

"I-we can't be together anymore..." Tyler stated with a shaky voice.

"What? Wh-why?" Joshua's expression dropped and his voice became weak.

"I'm so sorry, we just can't, I gotta go."

The brunette ran, he ran far. He didn't look back until he was sure he was out of Columbus. He reached an alleyway, entering it before sliding down the wall and crying into his arms. He sobbed and sobbed, just wanting to not live anymore, he just wanted Josh. He wanted his boyfriend to hug him and tell him everything will be alright, that he can get through this. But nobody's there, Tyler is officially alone. A glint of silver catches his eye, so he gets up and stumbles over to it.

A razor. A sharp, new razor just waiting to be used. Tyler picks it up and brings it to his wrist, but suddenly throws it to the other wall and collapses. He was so close to ending the pain, to draw that single, long line down is arm and bleeding out. He would never have to deal with anything again. His head, his mother, his ex that probably hates him, and his ex friends that probably hate him as well. But he doesn't, maybe because he thinks he deserves all of this torture, since he's so fucking worthless. Tyler breaks down again, sobbing into his sadly cleans arms, degrading himself all the while.

It's dark by the time he calms down, and a hand is placed in front of his face.

"Come on, I'm not going to rape you." A voice sounds.

Tyler looks up to see a mixed boy around his age with bleached hair and a small stubble extending his hand. He took the strangers hand and stood up, quietly examining the helpful person.

"I'm Pete, you look like you've had a rough life, so I decided to offer my help." Pete smiles.

"I-I'm Tyler, and you're right, I do have a horrible life."

"Okay, Ty, how about this; I'll tell you about my life, and you'll tell me about your life."

"Sure." What does he have to loose, it's not like he'll last any longer.

"Great! Now let's get you somewhere safer and I'll start." Pete chirped, leading Tyler down the street.

\----

"My mom raised me and my sister by herself for a while because my dad is an ass and never helped her, he just got drunk and hit us. Soon my mom had enough and killed herself, leaving my sis and I with our alcoholic father. He constantly physically and mentally abused us, until one day I had enough and beat the shit out of him, kicking him out of the house and making money myself, with the help of my sister. We both used to get bullied until I sent someone to the hospital and was expelled, so now I make money by dealing drugs. I also deal with bad anxiety and some depression." Pete explains, taking a sip from his vodka bottle and motioning to to the brunette next to him.

"Wow, you make my life seem like heaven." Tyler sighed.

"I doubt it, now spill."

"Okay, um, I my dad left when I was ten, bringing all my siblings and leaving me with my alcoholic mom. I deal with major anxiety and depression, I got bullied at my old school in Washington which lead me to self harm. My mom doesn't care about how my mental state is and constantly does things that make me think I have no reason to live and nobody cares or ever will care about me. She used to encourage my self harm and told me that if I killed myself, she would be happy. She mentally abuses me, calling me pathetic, stupid, a waste of space, fat, ugly, unlovable, and a lot more. So, when I moved here, I met four people that actually care about me, and I started dating one. Finally I felt happy, until today. My mom made me break up with my boyfriend and is putting me in online school so I no longer have friends or a relationship to distract me from my responsibilities." Tyler's voice cracked all throughout his story.

Pete was silent for a few moments before he engulfed Tyler into a hug.

"Shit, I'm so sorry man, that must fucking suck. Being forced to leave the ones you love? I'd fucking kill her." Pete empathized.

"Sometimes I wish I could, but I can't. Instead I'd rather kill myself than deal with her and my head."

"Wanna get drunk and forget about it all?"

"Hell yeah."

A few hours later and Tyler was fucked up. He drank his liver out and smoked at least ten joints.

He grabbed his phone and dialed Joshua, for some odd reason. Joshua answered after four rings, muttering a simple 'hello?' tiredly.

"Heey Joshie! How are ya'?" Tyler stuttered into the phone drunkenly.

"Tyler? Are you drunk?" Joshua asks with concern.

"Yeaah, jus' a lil' bit! I jus' wan'ed you t' kno' tha' m'mom made me break 'p wi' you, she threa'ened t' kill m'if I di'n't! So 't's no' really m'faul' n' I nev'r wan'ed t' leave you." He explained.

"Where are you?"

"None ya' beeswax, bye!" Tyler giggled before hanging up.

"You can crash here if you want, Ty, I have no problem with it." Pete offered, rolling his eyes as Tyler nodded and fell asleep on the couch.

\----- back to current time -----

"Th-thanks for walking me home, I probably wouldn't have made it back without you, Pete." Tyler mumbled.

"It's fine, plus, I'd really love to know who your piece of shit mom is." Pete replied with ease.

The brunette chuckled weakly, suddenly stopping with wide eyes as his house was in sight. Three cop cars surrounded the house.


	13. Reasons why this book is horrible

Three cop cars surrounded his house.

Tyler ran over, despite the pounding in his head, and rushed inside to find at least five officers, his mom, and Joshua. Pete appeared next to him as everyone's eyes averted to the fast breathing brunette.

"Tyler! Tell them I'm not abusive! Now!" Kelly screamed at him.

"I-uh.." Tyler couldn't breathe. They all hated him. His mom, Joshua, Ashley, Brendon, Dallon, the officers, Pete...

Suddenly it was all too much as his knees have out. Luckily Pete caught him and eased him to the floor, letting Joshua take his place.

"Tyler, darling listen to me, you're okay, no one wants to hurt you, okay?"

"B-but I-you should hate me, all of you should, m-my mom-" He cut himself off as he scrambled up and backed away from his mother.

"Sh-she said she w-was g-going to kill m-me if I-I didn't ge-get rid of you, oh my go-"

"Tyler! Just be quiet for a second, nobody is going to hurt you, I've got you." Joshua interrupted his stuttering, taking Tyler's face in his hands and brushing his cheekbone gently.

"That's all we need," one of the officers stated, turning to Kelly, "ma'am you are under arrest for child abuse and attempted murder. You have the right to remain silent, everything you say can and will be used against you in the court of law." He continued, cuffing Kelly's arms together and dragging her to his cop car, ignoring all of her protests and struggles to get free.

Joshua turned to Pete and smiled gratefully, nodding respectfully.

Soon Tyler calmed down enough to think straight, immediately asking questions as he got as close as he could to his boyfriend.

"Wh-what happened, and how? Sure, Josh saying that my mom threatened to kill me was enough to bring cops, but what about the whole child abuse thing? That makes no sense."

Pete sighed before clearing his throat.

"I'm actually, sorta an undercover cop. Since I'm around the age that most kids with problems are and I actually had a shitty childhood, I get paid to find kids who need saving from their parents. Everything I told you was true, don't take me for a liar, I just didn't tell you every little thing. When I think about it, it seems pretty horrible that I dig the dirty truths out of troubled kids by telling them my story, but at the same time I realize I'm actually saving so many kids from suicide and or their shitty families. So when you called Joshua and told him why you broke up with him, I called him back after you passed out and told him everything that happened and what we needed to do to help you. Then this happened and finally you're safe, I think." Pete explained.

Tyler sat in shock, eyes wide with tears.

"Th-that actually is really fucking awesome." He replied, "So what happens now? I don't have anyone to stay with."

"I object! You can stay with me. For as long as you want." Joshua chirped, smiling widely at his love.

Joshua really loved Tyler. Despite his mental problems, Joshua loved Tyler's sense of humor, the way he spoke, as if he knew every word in the dictionary and how to use them in regular sentences, their interests were almost exactly the same so both could go on and on about one thing, he loved how Tyler scrunched his nose when he was concentrating or confused, how his dimples shined whenever he was truly happy, and those perfectly imperfect teeth that showed when he smiled.

Joshua loved it all.

And Tyler loved him back just as much.

"Are you sure? I don't want to be a burden to your family." Tyler snapped the redhead back into reality.

"I'm completely sure. Plus, my family adores you."

"Thank you, so much." Tyler turned to Pete and smiled widely, "You too, I owe you so much."

"The only thing you owe me, is a promise that you'll try." Pete responded.

The brunette nodded, standing up and hugging the blonde.

Tyler felt safe, not completely safe, but just a bit. That was enough to make him want to live a little longer.


	14. The end is near. Or now. The end is now. Lol.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> this is the end. rip fall away!!

Tyler spent the next two weeks packing all of his stuff and moving in with the Duns. He had his own room, but mostly spent time with Joshua in his room. The Duns did in fact adore Tyler and loved how he would always help around the house despite not being asked to or even having to at all. Ashley, Brendon, and Dallon soon learned everything that happened and stood with Tyler the whole way, always offering their support whether or not he needed it.

But today was the big day. Today was the day Tyler was going to, hopefully, get his mom arrested and get emancipated.

He stood in the witnesses chair next to the judge, who smiled at him reassuringly.

"So you are saying that Kelly has abused you for years and you told nobody?" His mom's lawyer asked.

"I'm just going to get this out now. Kelly threatened me for years, telling me she'd beat me or kill me if I told anyone, so obviously I was terrified to speak out. She encouraged me to self harm and to kill myself, hell, she said she'd buy me rope, or a gun, or bleach, or razors. And when I was around fourteen, she tied me to a bed and listed everything that was wrong about me, even if it wasn't true. I almost killed myself the next day, but I was sent to a mental hospital and never told anyone why I did it in fear that Kelly would hurt me." Tyler stated, intertwining his fingers and glaring at Kelly.

The rest of the case went smoothly, Kelly got arrested and Tyler got emancipated. The judge told him he could live with the Duns until he moved into his own place.

\----- one week later -----

Tyler was currently cuddling with Joshua, burying his face in the redheads neck and sighing contently, smiling.

"You smell nice." He mumbled.

"You smell okay, I guess."

Tyler scoffed, pulling away and crossing his arms, pouting falsely. Joshua whined and pulled his love against his chest.

"I'm kidding, don't leave me, this is too nice to stop."

"Whatever, Casanova." Tyler giggled, but cuddled closer to his love.

"I can't believe it's finally over. I don't have to deal with her anymore, and I get you."

"I'm so glad it's over as well, you are too perfect to be hurt." The redhead commented, running a hand through Tyler's soft hair.

Tyler smiled happily, nudging his body closer to Josh's.


End file.
